"There's a pony in there somewhere". Trump con't

[AcrossthePond55]

Title based on what a college professor used to tell us when the going got tough.

"Just remember when you're standing shoulder deep in horse shit, there's a pony in there somewhere. So just keep digging".

This poor Pastor. This tweet is pure word salad garbage. Honestly - ‘I must ask to represent our Country as a great patriot hostage’? Who even thinks that, let alone writes it down for everyone to see? And I’m positive, given the choice, the Pastor would prefer not to be a hostage - patriot or not. Adding these labels - ‘Christian’, ‘Patriot’ - is needlessly divisive, anyway. It’s also weird to sandwich this with the issue of tariffs and sanctions, and end on an accidental pun. You know he isn’t clever enough to have meant it.

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
32m32 minutes ago
More
Turkey has taken advantage of the United States for many years. They are now holding our wonderful Christian Pastor, who I must now ask to represent our Country as a great patriot hostage. We will pay nothing for the release of an innocent man, but we are cutting back on Turkey!

Jim Sciutto
‏
Verified account

@jimsciutto
19m19 minutes ago

'Breaking: Pentagon says the military parade - requested by the President and originally scheduled for Veterans Day - will be postponed.'

I 'hope' that the decision actually tracks back to Mattis who seems to regard Veterans' Day with great seriousness.

'How Kavanaugh’s Last Confirmation Hearing Could Haunt Him.
Two Democrats feel that the Supreme Court nominee misled them about his awareness of terror-detainee policy during the Bush administration.'
www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/565304/?__twitter_impression=true

Maggie Haberman
@maggieNYT
Bannon has a new C4, which seeks to make the midterms what Trump is most interested in - a referendum on himself
mobile.twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1029875977671852034

'Reporter's Notebook.
An Impromptu Interview in the Oval Office'
capitaljournal.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/d/CD006A31179801A12540EF23F30FEDED/2A2F640C1B6E10B7C35B3650D253B2D9

Kaitlan Collins
@kaitlancollins
Joint statement from William Webster, Hayden, Panetta, Petraeus, Clapper, John McLaughlin, Mike Morell — in total 12 former directors and deputy directors of the CIA and a former DNI — criticizing Trump for revoking Brennan's clearance.
mobile.twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1030277948333543424

'CNN Poll: Brett Kavanaugh nomination has lowest public support since Robert Bork'
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/08/16/politics/cnn-poll-kavanaugh-confirmation/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

Manu Raju
@mkraju
American Legion to WH: “Until such time as we can celebrate victory in the War on Terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the Department of Veteran Affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care“
mobile.twitter.com/mkraju/status/1030231154606178305

'Exclusive: Omarosa's publisher tells Trump campaign: We 'will not be intimidated'
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/08/16/politics/omarosa-simon-schuster-white-house/index.html?__twitter_impression=true

www.politico.com/story/2018/08/16/paul-manafort-trial-verdict-latest-updates-779660

'Judge: Trump's release of dossier memos opens door to disclosures from FBI
www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2018/08/16/trump-dossier-fbi-disclosures-782237

'White House to honor ICE 'heroes' after family separation fiasco'
www.politico.com/story/2018/08/16/white-house-ice-event-immigration-agents-781748

'Republicans Are Using An Unprecedented Partisan Vetting Process To Rush Brett Kavanaugh’s Confirmation.
It won’t be as thorough, and it’s being run by a group of George W. Bush lawyers.'
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/brett-kavanaugh-documents-supreme-court_us_5b75c405e4b0df9b093db10a

Paul Beckett
@paulwsj
This just issued in response to tonight’s Rachel Maddow
www.dowjones.com/press-room/a-statement-from-the-wall-street-journal/
mobile.twitter.com/paulwsj/status/1030308396254351362

"Work hard. Someone's always watching." Oafquote.
Philip Bump
@pbump
Tonight: Fox News marathon
Tomorrow, per schedule: Fundraiser in the Hamptons then off for a Bedminster weekend
mobile.twitter.com/pbump/status/1030260537278570498

THE TRUMP WH CARTEL and 18 others liked

Chelsea Handler
‏
Verified account

@chelseahandler
4h4 hours ago
More
Fox News honored Aretha Franklin by using a graphic that contained a photo of Patti LaBelle. It’s probably hard for anyone who works at Fox News to tell black people apart because they’ve never worked with any.

I feel very pessimistic this morning - fear that the Manafort jury is going to acquit and Kavanaugh will be confirmed and Trump will be unbearably smug.

As for Fox and Aretha... my head will explode!

1/ The problem with complex white collar cases with many different counts is that it is easy for jurors to get confused. The challenge for prosecutors is to make the case as simple as possible. Often “less is more.”

2/ I agree that the “reasonable doubt” question is not a good one for prosecutors. It suggests some jurors are trying to convince a holdout. The result is occasionally a “compromise verdict,” where the defendant is found guilty on some but not all charges.

3/ Jurors believe they are “splitting the baby,” but in actuality a conviction on any felony count results in the judge considering all of Manafort’s conduct at sentencing, including conduct he is acquitted of. A conviction on any one count is a defeat for the defendant. /end
twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/1030210352527507456?s=21

Me too NorthWest. Me too

The Judge has made it difficult for them by not allowing them time to assimilate the information they were given and not giving them sight of the documents when they were being discussed. That's an impossible task.

All the legal experts said the paperwork was the case's greatest strength but not if you don't understand the arguments which the questions suggest the jury doesn't.

“Just as buildings in California have a greater need to be earthquake­ proofed, places where there is greater racial polarization in voting have a greater need for prophylactic measures to prevent purposeful race discrimination.” From RBG's dissent on SCOTUS gutting the VRA.
Joyce Alene
@JoyceWhiteVance
This with a highly qualified African American woman,
@staceyabrams
on the ballot. Before SCOTUS' decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted the VRA, Georgia would have had to preclear its decision to close multiple polling places like this through DOJ or a court.
Pema Levy
@pemalevy
A majority-black county in Georgia plans to shutter 7 of 9 polling locations for the November elections. This is the kind of voter suppression technique that the Supreme Court greenlighted when it gutted the Voting Rights Act. (link: www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/08/15/us/ap-us-polling-places-proposed-closures.html nytimes.com/aponline/2018/…

mobile.twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1030239964632690689

Some Colbert for good cheer.

www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-colbert-roasts-lara-trump-for-omarosa-tape-send-my-worst-sons-wife?via=twitter_page

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-extraordinary-bias-of-the-judge-in-the-manafort-trial/2018/08/16/aca48040-a16c-11e8-83d2-70203b8d7b44_story.html

www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/the-governments-technical-jargony-revealing-case-against-paul-manafort/567661/